EES Border Checks Spark Long Queues as Europe Braces for a Busy Summer

Travellers heading to Europe this summer have been warned to expect long waits at the border as the European Union's Entry/Exit System (EES) reaches full operation across the continent. The biometric scheme, which records the passport and fingerprint data of visitors who are not EU citizens, is now running at borders in 29 countries — and experts say the busiest weeks of the year could test it to the limit.

Rafael Schvartzman, vice-president for Europe at the airline body IATA, has cautioned that waits could be longer than expected where ports lack the right technology or enough staff. Uku Sarekanno, deputy executive director of the EU border agency Frontex, went further, suggesting that disruption could last as long as two years while the system beds in. Some industry figures have raised the prospect of queues stretching to six hours at the worst-affected crossings.

Photo by Ethan Sarkar on Pexels

What the Entry/Exit System actually does

The EES tracks the entry and exit of "third-country nationals" — essentially anyone who is not an EU citizen and does not hold a long-stay visa or EU residency permit — as they move in and out of the Schengen area. It replaces the familiar passport stamp with a digital record. Eligible non-EU visitors may still spend up to 90 days in any 180-day period in the bloc without a visa, and the system is designed to digitise those travel records so the limit can be checked automatically.

In practice, the first time you cross a participating border you register your passport details and biometrics — a facial scan and fingerprints — at a kiosk. On later trips, both entering and leaving, you return to the kiosks so your record can be verified. Data is normally stored for three years, or until your passport expires, whichever comes first. If you refuse to provide it, you can be refused entry. Children under 12 are not required to give fingerprints.

The scheme covers 25 of the 27 EU member states, plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. Ireland and Cyprus are continuing with manual passport checks. You can read a fuller explainer in our overview of the new system.

Where the checks happen

For most holidaymakers, EES registration takes place on arrival at a European airport, where dedicated kiosks sit before immigration. Smaller hubs without kiosks may take your details at the immigration desk instead. A handful of "juxtaposed" controls also operate on British soil: the Port of Dover for ferries, London St Pancras for Eurostar, and Folkestone for LeShuttle, where passengers register before they depart.

At Dover, 84 kiosks have been installed in a new registration area in the Western Docks. St Pancras has 49 kiosks and extra manual desks, while Folkestone has a drive-through zone with 224 kiosks. Because of technical problems, however, EES has not yet been switched on for car traffic at Dover or on LeShuttle, so passport stamping continues there for now.

Greece presses pause

With island airports particularly exposed to bottlenecks, Greece has become the first EU country to suspend the new checks for British travellers, dropping them until at least September. Almost five million Britons visit Greece each year, and the European Commission has signalled that member states may relax their checks over the summer if queues become unmanageable. At ports where EES is switched off, a border officer reverts to checking and stamping passports by hand.

When EES started — and what comes next

EES officially launched on 12 October 2025, but only one border point per country had to be live at first. Coverage rose to 35 per cent by 9 January 2026, and on 10 April every participating country switched its ports fully on.

Running alongside it will be the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS), a visa waiver comparable to the United States' ESTA. The EU expects ETIAS to take effect in the final quarter of 2026, with the exact date confirmed several months in advance. The waiver will cost €20 (about £17), last three years or until your passport expires, and should be applied for at least three days before travel. Our guide to who needs to apply sets out the details.

How to avoid the worst of it

Travel association ABTA has warned that first-time registration may add time at the border, since fingerprints and a photo must be taken. The advice is simple but important: allow extra time, especially for connections, cruise departures and tight transfers. Over Easter, more than 100 easyJet passengers were left behind at Milan Linate after a three-hour wait at passport control — and insurers say travel cover is unlikely to pay out for missed flights caused by EES queues.

If your cruise both starts and ends in the UK, you do not need to complete EES even when you step ashore for day trips. Some non-EU nationals are also exempt, including close family members of EU citizens who hold a residence card, and those travelling for specific reasons such as research, study or training. For everyone else, a little forward planning is the best defence against a long wait at the gate.